War of the Mind
by Feelancer SD
Summary: Post-Recovery One. Delta breaks through the walls of South's mind and watches as she tears apart at the seams.


_**"Stop it."**_

It was one of the rare moments when the former Freelancer found a decent shelter at night. She could at least get an hour or two of good sleep, for she needed to be on watch and keep going. Never stopping, always looking over her shoulder, wondering if she would be caught.

She was, after all, in possession of a stolen artificial intelligence unit, and had no doubt there were teams scattered everywhere looking for her.

However, said artificial intelligence unit was not being as cooperative as she'd hoped. He was, in a sense, getting back at her by bringing up certain thoughts; prodding at certain parts of her mind, even going as far to show her memories he'd seen from York's mind. All was done when her walls started to come down at night, when she lowered her defenses. He was doing this to remind her of what she'd done; to her brother, to Washington, and anyone else she'd hurt.

It was slowly tearing the blonde apart at the seams, driving her to the edge of giving up and breaking down.

_"I'm sorry Agent South, but I do not understand what you wish me to cease."_

She'd taken shelter in an abandoned warehouse, making sure it indeed was uninhabited before settling down for the night, choosing to prop herself up against the wall to rest her aching body. That's when Delta had started taking action again, returning to his system of scanning through the blonde's thoughts.

South gritted her teeth, gloved fists clenching and unclenching at her sides. "Stop showing me these-these thoughts. York's memories." Her voice sounded strained, as though she was holding back from bursting into a tantrum, or trying to swallow down the thick feeling of sadness that could settle in ones throat to make speech almost impossible.

_"These are just standard maintenance routines. Any residual memories or thoughts from my designated host are simply a byproduct of the process."_

"Well, knock it off." The agent was tired. More than tired, really, but tired was the only way she chose to describe it in her mind. "They're keeping me up, and I need to save my strength."

_"My apologies,"_ Delta replied, the hologram at her shoulder shimmering before disappearing, though his voice resonated around the walls of her brain, penetrating through any previous thoughts. _"I will try to control any shedding of collected data in the future."_

South stayed quiet, nodding once before leaning her head back to rest against the wall, the helmet making a slight clanking sound as the metal made contact. This was the moment when Delta lulled her into a false sense of security, allowing her to rest for a moment. It wasn't long until he was once again bringing up images in the Dakota's mind; York's memories with their teammates, their friends.

The tan Freelancer consoling her old girlfriend when they first entered the project, telling her she'd fit right in. His different encounters with Carolina, and the story they shared. The man sitting at one of the tables in the mess hall, laughing with her brother and Wash.

There was a screech as the blonde suddenly exploded with emotions, some of which weren't hers. Her body moved quickly, shooting into a standing position in less than a second, gloved hands tearing the helmet from her head and chucking it at the wall as she screamed.

**"Get out of my head!"**

The AI didn't relent, continuing his actions as South fell apart, becoming a sobbing mess in less than a minute.

_"All of these people, South,"_ Came the robotic voice of logic, hazy through her hysteria. _"They were your friends. One of them was your own brother; your twin. Look at what you've done to-"_

"Do you really think I wanted to watch my brother die?!" Her breathing was quick and shallow, borderline hyperventilation. "I made a deal with Maine. He was only supposed to take Theta and the equipment, but-" She was cut off by a violent sob, and her body shook as salty tears ran down her cheeks, stinging her cracked lips, creating clean streaks against her dirty face. "I tried to stop him, Delta. But-No one could **ever** stop him. Especially not after Sigma."

There was quiet as the logical entity in her mind tried to process what was being said. She'd always managed to keep these thoughts hidden from him, but they were spilling out now, telling him the truth about what really happened that day, and he dared not interrupt her.

A deep shaky breath was drawn in as South tried her best to regain control. "I regret that decision every day, Delta. Do you know that? Every. Day. I tear myself apart because I betrayed my own brother."

She was done talking now, and she pressed one hand against the cool granite wall, leaning most of her weight on it. Delta remained silent for a few moments before speaking again.

_"My apologies, Agent South. I will log off."_

His voice wasn't heard again that night, and for that South was thankful. She needed time to rebuild the walls he'd broken.


End file.
